CHAPTER 15

Zach was dumbstruck by what Keira said and did.

Her lips touched his, but then she suddenly passed out in his arms and he was made to quickly catch Keira's body to not let it slip onto the floor.

For the first time in his life, Zach did not know what to do.

For him, dealing with Keira at that moment seemed even harder than creating a strategy for a battle.

It was because of the handcuffs. He did not know whether to remain in their current position, where he was hugging Keira, or lay her down on the sofa.

The troublesome thing was that they were handcuffed, so it was impossible to properly carry Keira.

He looked around, but then he remembered that the key was in Keira's purse, which was at the other side of the table.

His phone was in his right pocket. If he tried to get it, Keira's body would slide down.

'Damn,' he cursed as he studied how awkward they look right now. Even the buzzer to call the waiter was far and out of reach.

Zach sighed. He was not comfortable in their position at all. Keira was so close that he could feel everything about her, even her same scent from before which seemed to not left him.

Meanwhile, Keira's face was buried on Zach's chest, so the latter could not see how wicked her smile was.

'It feels good, being cuddled like this.' Keira mumbled silently as she felt she was on cloud nine, being locked up in the strong and wide arms of her man.

He would end up becoming her man for sure. 'People might think I am being redundant,' she chuckled inwardly. But she wouldn't get tired of being redundant if it came to Zach.

'Hmm, how long should I keep on acting?' She mused, obviously, she was enjoying everything, taking absolute advantage of the situation at hand.

She could hear Zach's irregular breathing and thumping of his heart.

'What the heck? Is this for real, or am I just hallucinating?' She asked inwardly.

Then, she heard Zach whisper her name.

"Keira."

"Keira."

"Keira."

It was like music to her ears, but she knew it was him, trying to wake her up.

She bit her lip and tightly closed her eyes. She stayed like that for so long that she actually indeed dozed off because of the warmth she felt in Zach's arms. She felt secure and comfortable.

"Keira…" Zach murmured.

He blew out air when he heard Keira's stable breathing.

She seemed to be in a deep sleep.

"How can you peacefully sleep like this?" Zach muttered.

Something was bothering him, and for goodness sake, this scenario was a complete torment for him.

But then, the worst part started when Keira moved as if she was climbing onto her bed, but in reality, she was climbing on Zach, causing him to end up lying on his back on the sofa while Keira was on top of him.

"Oh. My. God." He gasped when he felt how Keira snuggled her face on his neck.

Zach felt that he was in a complete tribulation at that moment and it seemed that the time almost stopped ticking for him.

At that moment he realized, getting close to Keira was too dangerous, so he must keep his distance as much as he could.

Keira Chan was trouble...

...….

"I think Field Marshal Chan is biased toward Zach. What if something happens inside?" John commented.

"Field Marshal Chan trusts Zach and that man will absolutely respect Miss Keira and treat her well at any cause. And you are wrong. Field Marshal Chan is not biased but is a father who simply trusts his daughter very much." Jim said as he drank his glass of juice.

Both him and John were not allowed to drink any alcohol, especially, if they were with Miss Keira. They must remain alert at any time.

"How long do you think we have to wait here?" John asked. He wanted to leave at that very moment and take the girls home. He kept his eyes on May's side because Zach's friend had approached the two girls.

"Stop glaring at the man, Jim. He's a Lieutenant, and you yourself saw his profile. He can be trusted with the girls." Jim said, laughing.

"I'm not glaring, Senior, just keeping watch. Miss Keira will kill us if something bad happens to her friends, that's why..." John tried to explain, but obviously, it was an excuse.

"Oh, really? That's why you let Drey be taken out a moment ago? As far as I can recall, Drey is also one of Miss Keira's friends, no?" Jim teased.

They saw Drey getting out with Lieutenant Kang and he was about to call for one of his men to follow, but John laughed at him and said, "Let Drey be a man, Senior..."

John got what his Senior was trying to point out so he no longer reacted and just remained quiet because he was guilty.

...….

"What is wrong with your friend?" Torin whispered when Lana left for the restroom.

He noticed that Lana kept on distancing herself from him like he was some kind of a patient, having a contagious disease.

May laughed. "Don't mind her. She's just not used to spending time with a man." She said as she drank her glass.

Torin creased his forehead in disbelief. With twitched mouth, he complained, "But you have a male friend?"

May almost burst her drink at Torin's face.

"You mean Drey? Oh yeah, right… Hmm, Drey is a special case. Lana is really aloof with boys. I think she's a late bloomer type." May explained simply which confused Torin.

"Is there such a thing like that on women?" Torin gasped in shock because it was the first time he heard something like that.

Lana, who was already back, heard May's casual comment, "Nah, I simply know with a glance if I should avoid the man or not. You know how I hate playboys above all."

Torin's face reddened in embarrassment.

'Is she referring to me?' He mused as he tried to give Lana his most charming smile.

"But I'm not a playboy," he defended. He saw Lana arch an eyebrow at him so he zipped his mouth and did not say anything more.

He could feel that he would not win a debate with her. So he changed the topic instead.

"Have you guys received the result of the exam?" He asked cheerfully, trying to kill the tension between him and Lana.

"Oh yes, all four of us have passed! Keira got a high score of 95, then Lana got 94. Isn't they all good? I and Drey don't care about our scores as long as we have passed." May answered.

Torin scratched his head as he looked at Lana. Between May and Lana, he was interested in Lana more. He liked how intimidating she was. He found it attractive.

"Wow, that's great and I hope you all past the next exams too. Once you get admitted, this Senior will always be at your help anytime." Torin said, trying to be impressive as much as possible.

"I wonder what help can we get from you since once inside the training grounds… I heard no one is allowed to give a hand and special treatment." Lana commented plainly.

Torin scratched his head because Lana was right. He might even be the one to be tasked to give strict training.

"Ahm… I can at least give you advice and tips? Or perhaps, I can make your hard training be enjoyable by adding color to your life…" he said meaningfully, as his eyes directly looked at Lana.

"I'm sorry… I didn't quite hear you. What did you say?" Lana asked and Torin, with pouted lips, ended up drinking his beer.

* * * * * * * * * *

Keira, who fell asleep suddenly woke up because she felt the urge to pee.

She bit her lips when she realized that she was on top of Zach.

'Urgh, this is too bold, Keira!' She scolded herself but then she felt happy, knowing that Zach seemingly remained still all the while she was asleep given to their awkward position.

'This is better than cuddling my big teddy bear. He smells really nice.' She giggled unconsciously at the naughty thought.

"Are you already awake?" Zach murmured, and Keira was startled because she thought Zach was asleep somehow.

"Oh yes, I am… I'm so sorry…" Keira apologized as she tried to move up and she ended up sitting on Zach's waist.

Unaware of the more awkward position she just shifted to, Keira smiled at Zach and said, "Sorry, how long did I sleep? Wait... what's that?"

Keira naively asked and looked down because she felt a bump where she was sitting.

Zach gulped and abruptly raised his body up.

Keira twitched her mouth when she realized what was that bump and she whispered, "Ohhh I'm sorry."

Zach could no longer take all of that temptation and said, "Please, get off from me."

Keira's eyes widened when she understood what Zach meant. She was still on his lap and their position was really not a good sight, so she jumped off and fixed herself to sit properly.

"Uhm, sorry again. How long did I sleep?" She asked again to change the humid ambiance in the room. She was embarrassed by her ignorance and slowness on such a thing.

She heard Zach sigh and then he said, "Two hours and fifteen minutes."

"That long? How about you? You're awake that long or did you fall asleep too?" Keira asked in surprise. She couldn't believe that she managed to sleep that long.

Zach tried to hide his weary look.

'Did you really think I could sleep in that kind of position?' He wanted to voice out and add what kind of torture he felt for those two hours and fifteen minutes.

"No, I did not sleep because you are too heavy," he answered instead.

"What? I'm not heavy at all…" Keira defended with pouted lips but then she paused, trying to recall what was her last weight.

Zach was amused as he observed Keira's childish behavior.

'She's cute,' he thought suddenly but then brushed it off and said, "Can we already take off the handcuffs so we can at least move comfortably."

"Oh yeah, right… You should have woken me up." Keira said as she picked up her purse to get the key.

Zach wanted to say, 'Yes, I've tried to wake you up several times, but you did not budge at all.' But he chose not to say a thing and just let out a long, deep sigh.

The last two hours and fifteen minutes were more torturous than the actual battle he's been to his whole life.